Centerless grinding machine with work rotating and feeding work support



Jan. 24. 1956 E. J. SIEBER, JR.. ETAL 2,731,774

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHINE WITH WORK ROTATING AND FEEDING WORK SUPPORT3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 28, 1954 N5 Q2 8% %mw fim l 44 444 4 s a m9mw Qm E mmmvpm 0 mm mm m? m X 9m WW 1'1 w l v [\M 1 m .IIH 1 9w Jan. 24.1956 E. J. SIEBER, JR., ETAL 2,731,774

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHINE WITH WORK ROTATING AND FEEDING WORK SUPPORTFiled June 28, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTbRS. 0 WARD J. SIEBEE; JR.

@ Y WALLACE L DZ] V/S.

AT TO/YNE Y8.

Jan- 24. 195!) E. J. SIEBER, JR.. ETAL 2,731,774

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHINE WITH WORK ROTATING AND FEEDING WORK SUPPORTFiled June 28, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F i g 8 7 82 INVENTORS. 44 55 EDWARD J. S/EBER, JR.

'4 4 BY WALLAGELDflV/S. 4.5 ZTfWWYXZ W flTTO/PNEYS.

CENTERLESS GRINDING MACHWE WlTH WURK RQTATiNG AND FEEDENG WQRK SUPPURTEdward 5. Sieber, 3n, and Wallace L. Davis, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignorsto The Cincinnati Milling iv'i'achine o., (Cincinnati, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application June 28, 1954, Serial No. 439,524

7 Claims. ((Jl. 51-103) This invention relates to axle grinding machinesand mechanism and more particularly to improvements for eificientlygrinding the journals of car axles. It is recognized that better resultscan be obtained with respect to roundness if a journal can be ground bya centerless grinding method, but the problem is properly supporting anaxle which is long and heavy so that it will properly respond tocenterless grinding.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a centerless grindingmachine with an improved mechanism for supporting and rotating a carwheel axle while a journal thereof is being ground by the centerlessgrinding method.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved outboard meansfor supporting and rotating a workpiece in a centerless grinder in sucha manner that it may be also fed toward the grinding wheel whilemaintaining the axis of rotation of the work parallel to the face of thegrinding wheel.

A further object of this invention is to provide an outboard supportingmechanism for a centerless grinder for supporting long and heavyworkpieces which contains mechanism for assisting rotation of the workas well as being automatically synchronized with the regulating wheelslide to maintain the axis of the work parallel to the axis of rotationof the grinding wheel during infeeding of the slide.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention should be readilyapparent by reference to the following specification, considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, andit is to be understood that any modifications may be made in the exactstructural details there shown and described, within the scope of theappended claims, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference numerals indicate likeor similar parts:

Figure l is a plan view of a mechanism principles of this invention.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the mechanism shown in Figure l asviewed on the line 2-2 of that figure.

Figure 3 is a detail section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail section in elevation on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of a hydraulic control circuit.

Figure 6 is an end view of the mechanism viewed on the line 6-6 ofFigure 2.

Figure 7 is a view on the line 77 of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a detail sectional view on the line 9-9 of Figure 6.

in Figure l of the drawings the reference numeral 10 indicates generallya conventional centerless grinding machine having a grinding wheel 11and a regulating wheel 12, which is typical of centerless grindingmachines. The grinding Wheel 11 is journaled in a fixed support on thebed of the machine, while the regulating wheel 12 is journaled in ahousing 13 which constitutes an upper slide that illustrating the itedStates Patent e 2,731,774 Patented Jain. 24, 1956 is guided at 14 formovement toward and from the grinding wheel on a lower slide 15 which,in turn, is guided at E6 on the rear bed 17 of the machine. A hand wheel13 is mounted on the side of the slide 13 and operatively connectedthrough bevel gearing 19 having a nut portion 39' threaded on a feedscrew 20 which is anchored in an upstanding bracket 21 attached to thebed 17. The upper slide 13 may be connected to the lower slide 15 by thelocking member 22, whereby the upper and traverse slides may be movedjointly by the handwheel 18. By unclamping the upper slide by looseningmember 22, and operating clamping member 23, shown in Figure 4, thelower slide may be clamped to the bed, whereby the upper slide may bemoved severally upon operation of the handwheel 18, that is, relative tothe lower slide to adjust the position of the regulating wheel. As shownin Figure 4, the space 24- between the wheels is known in centerlessgrinders as the grinding throat, and in this throat is mounted a workrest blade 25 carried by a suitable bracket 26 mounted on the end of thelower slide 15. Thus, the upper slide may be adjusted in the mannerdescribed by the handwheel 18 to position the regulating wheel relativeto the work rest blade 25 in accordance with the size of the workpieceto be ground to hold and support the work on the blade. Then the slidesare moved jointly to feed the work toward the grinding wheel.

in a centerless grinder, and referring to Figure 4, the workpiece,indicated by the reference letter W, is rotated by the regulating wheel12. by friction between the workpiece and the wheel, which friction iscreated by the weight of the work and the angle top 27 of the work restbiade 25 which causes the work to slide toward the regulating wheel.Usually the regulating wheel rotates in the direction of arrow 28 whilethe grinding wheel rotates in the direction of arrow 29. With real heavyworkpieces the driving friction is hardly sufiicient to cause rotationof the work due to the friction between the work and the top 27 of theworkrest blade, and therefore additional means, such as will bedescribed herein, are provided to assist in this rotation.

Referring to Figure 2, an outboard support, indicated generally by thereference numeral 36, is provided for supporting the outboard end of theworkpiece W, and between the outboard support and the grinding machinethere is provided an elevating or Work loading mechanism indicatedgenerally by the reference numeral 31.

As shown in Figures 2 and 7, the elevating mechanism has ii-blocks 32and 33 which are spaced apart to receive the workpiece W which may beplaced therein by suitable overhead crane mechanism not shown. TheV-blocks are mounted on the top of a crosswise moving slide 34 which isguided at 35 on the top of an elevator 36. The slide 34 is adjusted byconventional screw and nut mechanism operated by the hand wheel 37. Byoperating the hand wheel 37, the supports 32 and 33 may be adjustedcrosswise to align the axis of the workpiece with the workrest blade 27shown in Figure 4, when the work is loaded in the machine. in operation,the elevator may be raised by means of a cylinder 3'3 having a pistonrod 39 suitably connected to the elevator 36, and, by means of thecontrol valve 4%, compressed air may be admitted to the cylinder toraise and lower the elevator.

The outboard support, as shown in Figure 6, has a pair of worksupporting rolls 4i and 42, and these rolls are carried by a first slide43 which is adjustable longitudinally of the work by a conventionalscrew and nut mech'-- anism 43 operated by handwheel 44. The slide 43 isguided at 44 on a second slide 45 which is movable cross wise orlaterally of the axis of the work W on the bed 99.

The supporting roll 42, as shown in Figure 8, has reduced ends 46 and 47which are journaled in anti-friction bearings 48 and 49 respectively inthe ends of oscillatable 3 frames -and 51. Theserfrarnes are journaledat 52and 53 on opposite ends of a sleeve 54 which is mounted in ahousing 55. The sleeve 54 is threaded at opposite ends to receive caps56 and 57 which are threaded thereon, thereby closing the, ends of thesleeve, and holding the members 50and S1 in position for oscillation.The members 50 and 51 carry clamping-bolts 58 and 59, and these boltsslide in arcuateslots 60 and filformed in upstanding flanges 62 and 630ihousing 55.

It will now be seen that the roll 42 may be arcuately adjusted about theaxis of the sleeve 54, and then clamped in position by the locking boltsSS-and 59. In addition, the flange. portions 62. and63'carry backing-upscrews such, as 64, shownin Figure. 6, which are adapted to engage thelocking. bolts 58 and 59; Thus, by means of this mechanism, the roll .42may be raised or lowered, or moved laterallyot longitudinally to alignthe axis of the workpiece parallel to the face of the grinding wheel onthe work rest blade25.

The other roll 41 is carried by the housing 55 in that the flanges 62and 63 areextended to form tubular portions 65 and 65 as shown in Figure9. Cylindrical sup porting members 67 and 68 are slidably mounted in thehousings 65 and 66, and have threaded connections to adjusting screws 69and 70 which are anchored in the end of thehousings and provided withoperating handles 71 and 72; Set screws '73 and74 engaging longitudinalslots 75 and 76 prevent rotation of the members 67 and 68 as they arelongitudinally adjusted. The members 67 and 6S carry anti-frictionbearings 75 and 76 in which the reduced ends 77 and 78 are journaled.Cap members '79 and 80 are suitably attached to the members 67 and 68 tokeep dirt and extraneous material out of thebearings. It will now beseen that the roll 41 may be adjusted in an angular plane, and the rolladjusted toward and from the roll 41 to assist in locating the workpiecein suitable parallel relation in the throat of the grinding machine.

As previously stated, the additional means for assisting inimpartingrotation to the work comprises an electric motor 81, Figure 8,which is connected by a sprocket chain-82 and suitable sprockets to ashaft 83 which is journaled in the housing 55, as shown in Figure 8, andprovided with a worm wheel 84 which meshes with a suitable gear $5mounted on a shaft 36 which is antifrictionally journaled within thesleeve 54. The end of the shaft 86 carries a sprocket wheel 87 which isconnected by a chain 88 to a sprocket wheel 89 mounted on the reducedend900i roll 42. Thus, by means of this drive mechanism actuated by themotor 81, the roll 42 may be positively driven and in timed relation tothe rotation of the regulating wheel 12. Attention is invited to thefact that the housing 35 is also supported for lateral oscillation aboutthe axis 83 in order to align the rolls 41 and 42 parallelto the surfaceof the work to obtain frictional contact therewith throughout the lengthof the rolls. This adjustment is effected by two adjusting screws 91 and92 which are threaded in the top of the slide 43, and provided with locknuts 93 and 94. The top of the screws engage flats 95 and 96 formed onthe underside of the housing 55. Thus, by adjusting these screws, theroll 42 may be slightly adjusted to insure full contact with theworkpiece.

The cross slide 45,- as shown in Figure 3, is moved by a piston 97mounted in cylinder 98 formed integrally with the frame 99 and connectedby a piston rod 100 to the slide 45. This cylinder has ports 101 and 102which are connected by pipes 103 and 104 to ports 105 and 106 of aservo-control valve indicated generally by the reference numeral 107.This valve has a pressure port 108 which is connected by channel 109 toa pump 110 having an intake 111 connected to a reservoir 112. Thepipelllhas a relief valve:113 which discharges through channel 114:back' to reservoir. The servo-valve also has drainports115-.and'116which are connected by 4; channel 117b'ack" to reservoir.The valve also has a plunger 118 which is held by a spring 119 against acontrol crank 120. This crank, as shown in Figure 7, is attached to arotatable shaft 121 which, as shown in Figure 2, has a second crank arm122 which, as shown in Figure 4, engages the end of a set screw 12-3threaded in a bracket 124 which depends from the workrest slide 15.

A spring 125 is provided to hold the crankarm against,

the set screw.

The servo-control valve 107 is mounted on the end of the slide 45 asshown in Figure 2. It will now be seen that when the regulatinglwheel12.. and Workrest blade 25 are fed toward the grinding, wheel, as shownin Figure 4, that the bracket 124 will cause counterclockwise rotationof'the arm 122 and thereby through the shaft 121 cause counterclockwise;rotation of the arm shown in Figure 7, and movement of the valve plungerin the servo-valve 107. This will control the flow of pressure fluidtocylinden 98 andthereby movement. of the outboard supporting-rollers41, 42 in synch'ronism with the'movement of the workrest blade.

In the operation 'ofthisdevice, it will be understood that the outboardrollers are capable of adjustment in two directions in a plane andvertically with respect to the plane whereby the-supporting rollers maybe adjusted to align the axis of the shaft parallel to the face of-thegrinding wheel which is-necessary if the journal is to be groundconcentric tothe axis of rotation of the shaft. it is to be remembered.that the journal is first supported on theworkrest blade and against theregulating wheel, and with clearance with respect to the grinding wheelas when the shaft is first placed in the machine. Thus, the shaft isfirst supported by the workrest and the outboard support with its axisparallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, assuming; the face of thegrinding wheel is trued parallel to its axis of rotation. Once thiscondition is established, it is time to feed the work to the grindingwheel without disturbing this parallel relationship. It will beunderstood that the regulating wheel and the outboard rollers can bothbe rotating at the time that the Work is placed in the machine, andsince the rate of rotation ofthe shaft is not fast, no harm will bedone. On the other hand, if preferred, the regulating wheel and theoutboard rollers may be stationary when the workpiece is placed in themachine. The peripheral speed of the-regulating- ,wheel and the outboardrollers should be the same to apply uniform rotation to both ends of theshaft and eliminate slipping. The drive motor may be-adjusted as tospeed to accomplish this result.

It will now be obvious that if both ends of the work are rotated atthesameratewhile the work is being fed to the grinding wheel to effectthe grinding operation, that parallelism will not be disturbed.- This isaccomplished by utilizinga servo-valvemechanism to tie the outboardsupport to the lower slide of the grinding machine so that they move asa unit. By adjusting the set screw 123 the servo-valve may be centrallypositioned in a stop positionand with the work parallel preparatory forgrinding, After etlectingthe initial set-up, the outboard support willmoveback and forth as a unit with the regulating wheel and work rest.Although manually operated means have been shown for advancing theregulating wheel, it will be understood that conventional power operatedinfeeding mechanisms may also be utilized. After the grinding operationhas been completed, the work maybe withdrawn from the. grinding wheeland then removed. bymeans of the elevator mechanism or other equivalentwork removing mechanism. The outboard support-slide is a self-containedunit having adjusting means for three directions of adjustment, as wellas aligning adjustment, and has a self-contained power unit for drivingthe-rollers.

What is :claimed is:

1. Inamechanismfor grinding the journal portion on the end of heavyaxles by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerlessgrinder having a grinding wheel, slide means having a workrest blade anda regulating wheel mounted thereon for engaging spaced points on theperiphery of said journal portion for alignment parallel to the axis ofthe grinding wheel, of an outboard work support having means forengaging spaced points on the periphery of the work and aligned incooperative relation with the workrest blade to support the axis of thework parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, feeding means for saidslide means, and power operated means operated and controlled by saidslide means for feeding said outboard support means in synchronism withthe rate of movement of said slide means to support and maintain theaxis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel during theinfeeding cycle.

2. In a mechanism for grinding axle journals by the centerless infeedmethod, the combination with a centerless grinder having a grindingwheel, slide means having a workrest blade and regulating wheel mountedthereon for engaging spaced points on the periphery of one journal toestablish an axis of rotation of the work which will be parallel to theaxis of the grinding wheel, of an outboard support having means engagingspaced points on the periphery of the other journal to establish an axisof rotation coaxial to the axis of rotation established by saidfirst-named means whereby the axis of rotation of the work will beparallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, feeding means for operatingsaid slide means, to feed the work to the grinding wheel, power operablemeans for feeding the outboard support in synchronism with thefirst-named slide means, and motion transmitting connections operatedand controlled by said slide means for controlling the operation of saidpower operable means.

3. In a mechanism for grinding journals on the end of axles by thecenterless infeed method, the combination With a centerless grinderhaving a grinding wheel, a slide having a workrest blade and aregulating wheel mounted thereon for engaging spaced points on theperiphery of one journal for aligning the axis of the work parallel tothe axis of the grinding wheel, of an outboard support having a slide,rollers carried by said slide with their axes parallel to said workrestblade, for engaging spaced points on the periphery of the other journalfor cooperatively supporting the work parallel to the axis of thegrinding wheel, feeding means for the first-named slide, power operablemeans for the second-named slide, and control means including aservo-valve operated by the first-named slide for synchronizing themovement of the secondnamed slide by said power operable means with themovement of the first slide.

4. In a mechanism for grinding the journal portions on the end of anaxle by the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerlessgrinder having a grinding wheel, a workrest blade, a slide supportingsaid blade for movement toward and from the grinding wheel, of anoutboard support having a slide movable in parallel relation to saidfirst-named slide, a pair of work supporting rollers mounted on saidsecond slide for engaging spaced points on the periphery of the otherjournal to support the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel,fluid operable means for moving the second slide including a servovalve,means for feeding the first-named slide, and motion transmitting controlconnections from the first slide to said servo-valve to cause movementof the second slide in synchronism with the movement of the first-namedslidel 5. In a mechanism for grinding the journal portions of axles bythe centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerless grinderhaving a grinding wheel, a slide, a workrest blade and a regulatingwheel supported on the slide, said blade and regulating wheel adapted toengage spaced points on the periphery of a journal to be ground foraligning its axis parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, of anoutboard support having a slide movable parallel to the first-namedslide, an arm mounted on the second-named slide carrying a roller withits axis aligned parallel to the workrest blade, a second roller,supporting means for the second roller on said arm for adjusting thespacing of said rollers to engage spaced points on the periphery of ajournal to align the axis of the work parallel to the axis of thegrinding wheel, power operable means for moving the second slideincluding a servo-control mechanism operatively connected to the firstslide for governing movement of the second slide in synchronism withmovement of the first slide to maintain the axis of the work parallel tothe axis of the grinding wheel throughout the feeding operation.

6. In a mechanism for grinding the journal portions on the ends of axlesby the centerless infeed method, the combination with a centerlessgrinder having a grinding Wheel, a workrest blade and a regulating wheelfor engaging spaced points on the periphery of the work for aligning theaxis of the work parallel to the axis of the grinding wheel, saidregulating wheel acting to impart rotation to the work, of an outboardwork support having a slide, spaced rollers mounted on the slide withtheir axes parallel to the axis of said work rest blade, power operablemeans carried by said last-named slide for imparting rotation to saidrollers in synchronism with the rotation of said regulating wheel, andservo-control mechanisms including aservo-valve operatively connected tosaid firstnamed slide for governing the rate of movement of the secondslide in synchronism therewith, and means to effect feeding of saidfirst-named slide.

7. In a mechanism for grinding axle journals by the centerless infeedmethod, the combination of a centerless grinder having support means forengaging one journal and imparting rotation thereto, an outboard supporthaving means for engaging the other journal and imparting rotationthereto, an intermediate support having elevating means for lowering andraising an axle to position it for grinding, said grinder and saidoutboard support having slide means for feeding the work toward thegrinding wheel, power operable means for moving the slide means on theoutboard support including a servo-valve, and motion transmittingconnections including a rotatable shaft supported by said intermediatesupport and operatively connected to said grinding machine forcontrolling operation of said servo-valve in accordance with the feedingmovement of said firstnamed support, and means for im parting a feedingmovement to said first-named support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,141,065 Haas et al. Dec. 20, 1938 2,284,257 Bergstrom May 26, 19422,544,318 Horberg Mar. 6, 1951

